The South African Municipal Workers’ Union in the Western Cape welcomes the recent court judgment declaring aspects of the City of Cape Town’s tariff structure unlawful. This judgment is an important victory for residents and communities who have consistently raised concerns about the affordability, legality and fairness of municipal charges imposed by the City. It reaffirms an important principle: municipalities are not above the law. They must exercise public power lawfully, fairly and in the interests of the communities they are constitutionally mandated to serve.
For SAMWU, this judgment raises serious questions about governance, decision-making and the use of public funds by the City of Cape Town. Residents and ratepayers are entitled to know how much public money was spent defending a tariff regime that has now been found to be unlawful. They are equally entitled to know what steps will be taken to ensure that similar unlawful decisions are not repeated in future.
While the City has every right to pursue legitimate legal remedies where genuine disputes exist, such rights must be exercised responsibly. Public resources cannot be treated as an unlimited litigation fund to defend decisions that may have been flawed from the outset. Every rand spent on avoidable and unsuccessful litigation is a rand taken away from service delivery, infrastructure, worker development and community support.
This matter does not affect residents alone. Municipal workers have for years experienced the consequences of a litigation culture in which arbitration awards, court orders and dispute resolution outcomes are routinely challenged by the City, even where workers have already succeeded in proving their cases. This approach delays justice, prolongs suffering and places workers and their families under unnecessary financial and emotional strain.
SAMWU is currently assisting members whose matters have remained before the courts for more than five years, while some workers have spent close to a decade awaiting finality despite having already secured favourable rulings. In other instances, employees who have obtained reinstatement orders continue to face further delays in receiving salaries and back pay legally due to them. Some are even forced to return to court simply to enforce judgments already granted in their favour. This is unacceptable. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Municipal workers are not separate from the communities they serve. They are residents, ratepayers, parents and breadwinners. They face the same rising cost of living, the same municipal charges and the same economic pressures confronting communities across Cape Town. When public funds are wasted on prolonged and unsuccessful litigation, both workers and communities carry the burden.
The Union therefore finds it difficult to understand how the City can publicly raise concerns about the financial implications of adverse judgments while, at the same time, spending significant public resources on litigation that often delays justice for workers and communities alike. Accountability cannot be demanded from residents and workers while being absent from those entrusted with making legal and administrative decisions on behalf of the City.
A municipality genuinely committed to justice should not force workers to spend years enforcing rights they have already won. Nor should it spend public money defending decisions that ultimately fail legal scrutiny.
SAMWU therefore calls on the City of Cape Town to urgently review its litigation strategy, particularly in labour matters. Appeals and review applications should only be pursued where there are genuine and reasonable prospects of success, not as a tactic to delay implementation or frustrate workers who have already won their cases.
The City must publicly account for expenditure incurred in unsuccessful litigation, implement arbitration awards and court orders without unnecessary delay, and strengthen alternative dispute resolution mechanisms where appropriate to avoid wasteful legal costs. Decision-makers must also be held accountable where public funds are repeatedly spent on litigation that ultimately fails.
In particular, SAMWU calls for accountability within Labour Relations Management where advice and decisions repeatedly result in unsuccessful litigation at significant cost to the public purse, while workers and their families are subjected to years of avoidable hardship.
The Union is not suggesting that the City should abandon its legal rights. We are calling for a responsible, balanced and accountable approach that recognises both the financial cost to taxpayers and the human cost to workers.
At a time when communities are struggling with rising living costs and municipal workers continue to provide essential services under difficult conditions, public funds must be used to improve lives, not to prolong disputes that could have been resolved fairly and lawfully.
SAMWU believes accountability must apply equally to all. Just as residents are entitled to demand accountability when public funds are spent defending policies later found to be unlawful, workers are entitled to demand accountability when prolonged legal battles delay justice, prolong suffering and consume scarce public resources.
The City of Cape Town must demonstrate its commitment not only to defending legal disputes, but to fairness, accountability, responsible governance and respect for the rights of both workers and communities.
Issued by SAMWU Western Cape Province
Mhle Dlamini
SAMWU Provincial Secretary
074 706 7943
Or
Shaun Kralo
Deputy Provincial Secretary
060 407 4365